engine failed, coming in dead stick he said he tried following the rows but couldn't. This was one of three or four cropduster crashes he walked away from.

I've got some more photos somewhere. If I find them I'll post em

Well, you know what they say. Any landing you can walk away from...

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWebb

designed for very low level ground attack missions, such as airfield denial via cratering
- supposed to come in low... very low, as in UNDER the defense radar systems

my guess is that the variable wings help with dealing with ground effects

Ground effects start at most a wingspan above ground from what I understand. It is pretty tough to do that kind of hedge hopping at 500mph or more. I suspect it is for the same reasons the F14 had the swing wings- it reduces stall speed and allows better dogfighting amongst other things.

first off, for both of you guys, it's "ground effect" ...not plural. secondly, that airplane is not flying that fast while in ground effect. ground effect on a jet like that would be around the 20-30 ft AGL range. forward looking radar for that? nah....

the reason for a swept wing is simple. better manueverability while subsonic, higher cruising speed while sonic. the best of both worlds.

first off, for both of you guys, it's "ground effect" ...not plural. secondly, that airplane is not flying that fast while in ground effect. ground effect on a jet like that would be around the 20-30 ft AGL range. forward looking radar for that? nah....

the reason for a swept wing is simple. better manueverability while subsonic, higher cruising speed while sonic. the best of both worlds.

random transportation picture:

One of the modes on the TFR provides 50ft clearance to ground...at speeds into the 600kts and beyond range. That Tonka is neither that low or that fast.. however the RAF certainly did train that way....

In the case of the Tornado the swing wing was to allow this low alt/ high speed performance and a smooth ride... with good low speed for landing.

The F3 version (pictured) was an interceptor version, with poor (relatively) dogfighting performance and marginal high alt ability... certainly an F4 was a 'better' fighter in that regard, with the F16/15 several orders more able.

__________________Share with me. Teach me something I didn't know. Make me think. But don't make me a bit player in your passion play of egotism. Dueller. 13/03/09